Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 July 2004
285 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education and Science if a special needs assistant will be approved for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20447/04]
View answerMy Department has received an application for special needs assistant support to cater for the needs of a number of pupils in the school, including the pupil in question.
This application is being considered at present and a response will issue to the school authorities as quickly as possible.
286 Mr. N. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if his Department will ensure that a special chair and school table will be provided at a primary school for a person (details supplied) in County Cork with special needs. [20449/04]
View answerI am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department's school building section has approved funding for the provision of a classroom chair and desk for the pupil in question.
287 Mr. N. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science if learning support teaching will be in place by September 2004 for a person (details supplied) in County Cork with special needs. [20450/04]
View answerThe school currently has the services of a shared learning support teacher. In Circular 24/03, which issued to all schools in September 2003, my Department stated its intention to engage in discussions with representative interests with a view to developing a weighted system of teacher allocations for special needs teaching. Since then significant developments have taken place and, in consultation with representative interests, a new system for the allocation of teaching resources for special needs in primary schools has now been approved.
I am satisfied that the new weighted model of teacher allocation for pupils with special educational and learning support needs will significantly improve the level of service provided for such pupils. To facilitate the introduction of the new system, an additional 350 posts are being made available. This will bring the total number of such posts for pupils with low achievement and special educational needs to almost 4,500.
The new system will involve a general weighted allocation for all primary schools to cater for pupils with learning support needs and those with higher incidence special needs, such as borderline mild and mild general learning disability and dyslexia. It will also allow for individual allocations in respect of pupils with more acute needs.
The general weighted allocation system will greatly reduce the need for individual applications and supporting psychological assessments and will put resources in place on a more systematic basis, thereby giving schools more certainty over their resource levels. This will allow for better planning in schools, greater flexibility in identifying and intervening earlier with regard to pupils' special needs, as well as making the posts more attractive to qualified teachers.
The previous allocation system placed significant demands on principals, teachers and psychologists. It has also proven to be time-consuming, thereby delaying the allocation of resources for special needs. Action had to be taken to reform the system and the model now being introduced will, over time, significantly improve the capacity of the system to cater for children with special needs in a speedier, more effective way. The revised system will reduce the administrative burden on schools and allow them to concentrate on the delivery of services to pupils with special needs. It will also allow psychologists to devote more time to advising teachers on planning for individual children and for whole school provision.
My Department has communicated with schools in relation to their allocations. Permission will be given to fill all specific allocations immediately. The general weighted allocations will be filled following the determination of clustering and reallocation arrangements. To ease the transition to the new system, my Department has already agreed not to redeploy teachers from full-time posts via the panel redeployment process.
It is intended that the details of the new model will be set out in a comprehensive circular to issue to schools for the commencement of the new school year.
